MORE than £70,000 confiscated from criminals will go to help victims of crime in Yorkshire and the Humber.

The Home Office is directing the cash to the areas worst affected by gun crime.

Home Office minister Caroline Flint, speaking at the Disarm Trust, an independent charity that supports victims of violent crime, said: "The Government is putting £1.5m reclaimed from criminals back into the community, to help tackle gun crime.

"I am very pleased that these ill-gotten gains will be used to support victims and cut gun crime.

She added: "Gun crime has a devastating effect on our communities and has moved down the criminal hierarchy.

"Young people - almost always men - are often linked to gangs, petty crime and illegal drugs, and increasingly carry guns as a means of gaining respect.

"We know where the problems are and are targeting our efforts where they are needed most - in specific areas in a small number of cities," said the Don Valley MP.

"People living and working in these communities have a vital role in fighting a culture of violence, and we will work with them and support them in that."

Ms Flint said that levels of gun crime in the UK were low by international standards, but the Home Office was not complacent.

"We have introduced tough new sentences on illegal firearm ownership and created new offences to deal with the problem of replicas and airguns.

"A recent amnesty took more than 43,000 guns and 1m rounds of ammunition out of circulation," said the minister.

"We will continue to put communities at the heart of our work to get guns off the streets."

Nationally, three-quarters of all gun crime in England and Wales takes place in and around London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Nottingham.